


Photogenic

by KnifeBinaryPrince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Human Plaxum (Voltron), M/M, Mer Keith (Voltron), Mer Lance (Voltron), Multi, Plaxum Is A Photographer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-01-30 11:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12652428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifeBinaryPrince/pseuds/KnifeBinaryPrince
Summary: I can't think of a summary right now but it's Plaxum as a photographer that likes to take pictures of the ocean, animals, and coasts and meets two mers while she's doing so.





	1. Fleeting Glimpse

**Author's Note:**

> Character's are in their 20's, nothing NSFW related within this.

Blue water stretched out for miles all around, the horizon dotted with tropical islands in the far distance that were just specks of dark color where the sky met sea. The air was cool comfortable, a light breeze blowing the salty air in every crack and crevice of the small white boat that seemed to float aimlessly amidst the large expanse of sea.

On that speck of a white vessel was a woman, dark skin made darker by the sun as days passed. Her even darker hair kept into two pigtails, allowed to flow freely down her back, blowing slightly in the air like two billowing kites. Aqua green eyes looked from behind thick framed glasses at an expensive camera held in dark hands, lithe fingers messing with the buttons and tweaking with the settings of it before she tested them by taking a random picture or two.

The woman wore a sheer white cardigan, light enough to keep her cool yet thick enough that the sun wouldn't burn her shoulders. Her swim suit consisted of a matching set, white in color with green and blue water color splashes scattered randomly about. Her favorite set since the blobs reminded her of jellyfish floating aimlessly through the water, just going with the flow of the currents and letting it take them where ever it decided to take them.

She startled when she heard a splash, a small smile appearing on her face when her eyes picked up a flash of blue fins. Her hand grasped the railing, other hand holding on tightly to her camera, making sure she had her footing on the shifting boot before she used both of her hands. She looked through the viewfinder, watching and waiting for another sign of those pretty blue fins to take a picture or two of.

Plaxum already had a series of photos of the mystery mer from the past month, all a sequence of fins dipping and rising from the water in wide, graceful arcs. She had never seen more than just the mer's fins or flukes, but she could recognize the scale pattern and colors at a mere glance now.

Bright blue dorsal fins rose up from the water in a graceful arc just a few yards ahead of her. A series of sharp clicks sounded as she took multiple photos, zooming in just enough to see the detailed patterns of the mer's scales. The sunlight caught onto the scales as they rose from the water, an iridescent sheen playing soft colors on the tail and sharp dorsal fins that cut through the water like sharpened blades.

She let the camera hang from her neck as she finished up with her pictures, looking out over the water at the large, shimmering blue shape that swam idly around the boat, circling a few yards out like they had done for weeks now. They had never swam any closer much to Plaxum's dismay, choosing instead to swim and stay around at a distance.

She didn't know what had prompted the mer to follow her and linger near her boat for so long. She never threw any food overboard or kept anything out on deck that might've attracted them to her boat. And any food she did have she kept below deck anyway, not having a reason to eat on deck in the first place.

Besides, with the sharks that frequented the area she was currently in she didn't much mind the company. Full grown mers could take on a shark no problem, the bigger species taking on Great Whites no problem. Because of that sharks usually steered clear of any and all mers, leaving most coasts and shorelines shark free if a local pod had claimed the territory.

The small waves rocked the boat gently, the afternoon sunlight glittering off the rolling water with a pretty glimmer that caused Plaxum to squint. She really should've put her prescription sunglasses on instead of her regular pair, but she loved seeing all the colors of the ocean as they were, her new friend especially.

A ring from below deck caught her attention, fingers trailing the warm metal of the railing as she left the water's edge, her bare feet making small, gentle thuds against the wooden deck of her boat, descending down the small steps to her room below.

She followed the piercing sound to her bed, grabbing the cell phone from under her rumpled blankets and answering it quickly as she hopped onto the ruined mess of pillows and blankets that was her bed.

"Hey Flo, what's up?" Plaxum asked lightly, bending a leg and crossing her other leg over the knee, bouncing her foot lightly as she messed with the strap on her camera that hung around her neck, the expensive piece of equipment having fallen to the side of her chest in her recent plop on her bed.

"Nothing much, everyone here is excited for your visit back tomorrow, everything looking okay as far as making it before lunch?"

"Yeah, the weather should be clear enough for smooth sailing back."

"You take anymore shots you can show us?" Florona asked, knowing how particular Plaxum was when letting people view her work.

"Yeah I have a few shots I think I can show everyone, even took a few more of the mer that's been following me."

"The pretty blue one from the photos you sent me?"

"Mhm."

"Nice, I'm sure the kids will love them. Do you know why it's been following you?"

"Nope," Plaxum replied, popping the "p" as she looked out at her messy cabin. She'd have to straighten it up sometime today...or tomorrow. "But the mer hasn't damaged my boat or gotten any closer than what they've been doing so I'm not too worried."

"Just keep an eye on them okay?"

"Okay, whatever you say Flo."

***

Lance swam around the boat a few more times, waiting to see if the human would come back out. After a half hour he decided she was probably not going to come back out, a slow trill leaving him as he turned and swam away from the boat, heading back towards his home and mate.

It didn't take him too long to get back, his streamlined body and fins helping him to cut through the water at high speed.

He arrived back within half an hour, going through the entrance of the cave that opened up to an expansive cavern. The sound of trickling water over water smoothed walls a pleasant and familiar sound. Picking up speed he used the momentum to heave himself onto the cave floor, slithering across to side himself up next to Keith. The darker scaled mer sleeping soundly amid a bed of seaweed and kelp that stretched all over like vines towards the water, keeping it fresh and soft for use.

Lance curled himself around Keith, who in turn clutched the mer with strong arms, pressing his nose against Lance's gills as he made a small sound of content. Lance allowed Keith to curl his near black tail around his own blue one, curling tighter at the warmth his blue scales had soaked in through the day.

It was still early enough that they could get in a few hours of sleep before night fell. Keith was more of a night hunter, Lance usually putting off hunting in the day like his species was used to to hunt with Keith instead. And while it was difficult at first he soon got used to seeing the dark and even discovered his own way of navigating through the dark, ocean waters.

But for now he held Keith close, a low rumble going through his chest as he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A vacation away from vacation and lonesome beasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmmm only took me forever to update whoops.

Plaxum arrived at the docks about an hour before lunch, and not a moment too soon. Clouds darkened overhead and the wind picked up just a bit, the signs of an impending storm on the way, made more present by the light drizzle of rain coming down.

She secured the boat to the dock after cutting off the engine, jumping up and across the small gap to land on the hard wood of the pier with a slight thud, bare feet treading carefully on the weather beaten wood as she made her way up to Florona's beach house, located just up the hill, the stone slabs of the path steps warm from the recent sun as she made her way up.

Just as she had gotten to the porch the front door slammed open, a swarm of tiny bodies clambering over each other as they gathered around her legs, tiny hands and fingers grabbing onto her cardigan and tugging fiercely. Tiny squeals of joy surrounded her, and she laughed as she picked up one of the tiny tots, one of Florona's smallest cousins.

"Hello there lovelies, you sweethearts miss me?"

A chorus of yeahs and incoherent baby babbles surrounded her, turning into a mob of high pitched screams that faded when little feet ran in the house as thunder rolled overhead. Plaxum chuckled, playing with the small tot in her arms. Her name was Simone, one of the smallest at about one and a half years old, Florona's youngest cousin and baby of the family. Simone barely even batted an eye at the thunder, more curious about how easy it was to take off Plaxum's glasses than anything else.

"Hey there little tike, leave Plaxum's eyes alone, it's the only way she can see anything, otherwise she'd bump into a wall that wasn't there to begin with." Florona teased from the doorway, moving towards one of her best friends to retrieve the curious toddler.

“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you should say it.” Plaxum grumbled.

"Nice to have you back, even if it is for a few days, come on in, Shay and Nyma are already inside." Florona laughed, Plaxum trailing behind her into the house.

Shay and Nyma were already inside, Shay laying back against the couch as she sat on the floor with a few kids sitting in her lap and around her. Nyma was laying on said couch, surprisingly taking a nap with three small kids sitting next to each other on her back, each eating bits of a sandwich that made up their lunch.

From what Plaxum knew of her she was more than likely dead to the world, not easily awakened once asleep and grumpy if she was.

“Come on, we got your room set up, all your stuff should be up there for you to arrange it the way you like and I think Nyma bought you a new corkboard and some yarn since she knows how much you like your one wall to look like some conspiracy theorist's hidden shrine of cryptids.” Florona teased, Plaxum pushing against her shoulder playfully as she followed her upstairs. Florona opened the bedroom door with a swift creak, the scent of crisp, salty ocean air meeting them. The room was plain looking, walls and furniture colored white, the only splash of color being sea green pillows and blankets that lied ready to be used by their new owner.

“I’ll call you down when your food is ready, so don’t get too deep in your redecorating.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever lady.” Plaxum teased, getting a playful punch to her shoulder for her efforts before she was left alone in the clean, empty room.

A breeze, soaked with the smell of rain, blew in through the open window, soft white curtains billowing out because of it.

Her steps sounded heavy and hollow on the wood floor as she crossed the small distance to her bed, dropping the duffel bag she had been carrying on to the clean, green blanket and turning her attention towards the new corkboard that made up the wall the end of her bed was facing towards.

Plaxum rummaged through her bag, pulling out a small, leather portfolio where she kept her photos.

She spent the next half hour tacking the photos to the corkboard, making sure to pin the photo with the button of the thumbtack and not the pin itself. She’d rather not have holes in the same photos that took her hours to get.

When she had finished carefully arranging everything just how she thought she liked it she took a step back to admire her work. The various photos she had taken over the last few weeks were arranged in chronological order, although anyone that looked upon the less than clean looking board of photos would have thought otherwise. But to her it was arranged in a way most familiar to her. Similar to the setup she had on her boat, although her more precious photos stayed there or in her portfolio.

Speaking of which she needed to sort through those photos, check them again, scan them, make copies, and back them up on her hard drive just in case.

A voice from downstairs calling for lunch broke her from her train of thought and interrupted the task she was about to begin, leaving the pictures inside the folder and on the bed as she went downstairs to eat with the others.

@@@

Lance let out a few trills of unhappiness upon not being able to find his human, spines snapping at his sides in an agitated manner.

The clouds were dark and grey, what little light there was fading as day turned to night. Drops of rain made soft plip sounds as they hit the ocean surface, Lance blinking his eyes to be rid of the small drops that blurred his vision.

He spent a few more minutes keeping a lookout for the familiar boat. But it was apparent soon after the hour was up that she wasn’t going to show up at all today or the night.

Something smooth and heavy brushed up against his tail, the feeling of scales thicker and harder than his pressing like a grounding weight in his side. Keith emerged from the water right after, navy violet eyes shining above the surface like little stars. The patterns of scales he had on his cheeks glistening darkly like spilled oil.

Keith let a questioning trill leave his throat, bumping his head gently against Lance’s shoulders in greeting. Lance smiled as he returned the gesture, soft coos in answer leaving him to soothe Keith’s curiosity.

Keith huffed a breath, running his claws along Lance’s arm, beckoning him to follow him under to head back home and away from the impending rage of the storm.

Lance hesitated for a moment, looking out towards the horizon before going to follow.

He’d come back another day.


	3. Close Ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plaxum gets some calendar worthy photos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took awhile but I've finally updated!

By the end of the week Plaxum was back out on the water. She’d taken a few care packages from friends and family before leaving, making sure she was well stocked before heading out.

 

Today was a nicer day than the others, just a bit of cloud cover overhead amidst the sunshine and a nice breeze blowing out over the water. She hadn’t seen skin nor scale of her mer so far, but she kept her camera close just in case.

 

The boat rocked to the rhythm of the gentle waves, a few seagulls from shore flying overhead and occasionally landing on the boat to peer at her curiously, leaving again with a beat of their wings.  Plaxum was looking at her camera when she heard a splash. Her hair swished in it’s own bouncy way as she whipped her head in the direction of the sound, spotting a translucent blue fin dipping under the water’s surface. She stood up hurriedly, nearly slipping in her haste to try and see the mer.

 

By the time she reached the railing they were gone. So she waited patiently and looked around the boat. This one had a habit of popping up here and there around the boat for every twenty minutes or so, as if they were checking in on her. She found the notion sweet to think about, even if there was a chance they weren’t actually checking on her. Mers had a habit of scoping out their hunting grounds and watching prey for long periods of time. Usually within a few days they’d strike if the prey was bigger than normal. This one had been around for a couple months so she crossed off possible hunting off the list. They’d had plenty of chances to get her if that truly was the case anyway.

 

Plaxum placed a hand just above her glasses to block the sun’s light and glare as she looked out over the quiet waters. A small smile graced her lips as her eyes locked onto a dark shape a ways to her right, the tip of a blue fin cutting through the water’s surface. She moved to the right side of the boat snapping a few quick photos when the water swelled as the mer’s tail rose up, only to disappear as they went down under again.

 

She wolf whistled as she saw the mer’s tail more clearly than all the other times they’d shown themselves. She marveled at the amount of blue shades and highlights riddled in the scales, the various blue hues sparkling prettily than any gemstone in the sunlight.

 

God she hoped she got that on camera.

 

A small beeping sound met her ears and she cursed, panicking slightly as she nearly slipped and ran to her room to get new batteries for the camera. She made a mess of her room trying to find the extra batteries she kept around for emergencies like this one, pumping her fist in the  air in triumph when she found them. She switched the batteries out as she returned to the deck, curses leaving her mouth when she dropped one. As she crouched down to pick it up she heard a whistle, specifically a wolf whistle.

 

Green eyes widened in surprise as she glanced up and looked around, seeing no human in sight. Instead she heard a splash of water and another whistle to her left. She barely caught the shimmer of a fin as the mer dipped back down below the water. A smile graced her lips and she laughed a little, realizing that the mer was imitating her whistle from earlier and playing a game at the same time.

 

It was known mers could imitate certain sounds, whistles being the most common. And as she continued to hear a wolf whistle every few seconds from different directions she guessed this one was quite proud of their achievement.

 

The deck was warm under her skin as she laid belly down on the boat, inching herself towards the edge just enough that she could see into the near crystal clear water with little trouble. If she was lucky they’d probably be more than curious to see where she had gone so she could snap a few good photos of them.

 

She jumped back in surprise when scales brushed against the side of the boat, fighting back a smile when dolphin like clicks met her ears, a wolf whistle sounding right after. She sat up as the sounds of splashes against the boat came closer, peering over the edge to see a warm brown face and dark brown hair just under the water. Plaxum gasped as the mer rose up, just enough to reveal their face from the water. She scrabbled back a few feet from the edge, knees bent to her chest and eyes wide behind her glasses.

 

Their skin was mottled with the brightest blue scales around the eyes and cheeks, small gill slits just at the apple of their cheeks lined with tinier scales that shimmered in the sun. The patch of scales that covered their neck trailed down their throat, over the gills at the sides of their neck and dipping down across their chest.

 

A curious chirp left the mer as they looked at her, eyes a piercing blue in such a contrast to everything else about them it was like looking at patches of melting snow against asphalt, their pupils in thin slits as they looked directly into her own green eyes.

 

Plaxum held her breath, scarcely believing she was this close to the mer. Any fears she had of them were promptly brought to the forefront of her mind when they grinned, showing off sharp teeth in a scary albeit goofy manner, earlike fins twitching and flicking playfully at the sides of their head.

 

She actually had to physically keep herself from laughing at the sight.

 

All of a sudden they were quiet, eyes serious and pupils just pinpricks of black against a storm of blue as they looked past Plaxum at whatever was behind her.

 

She had barely turned to see when the mer launched themselves out of the water, landing on the boat deck with a large thud. There was a loud squawk and some feathers flying in the air before silence blanketed the small boat once more, the mer turning to her with a now dead seagull in between his teeth, an oddly proud look on his face as he proceeded to present it to her as a gift.

 

With the mer on the boat like this Plaxum could see most of his tail, pretty blues wrapped in dark and light hues, sharp short spines lining down the top of his tail, fins at the side hugging the deck with small claws dug into the wood. The mer’s tail was massive, while still being situated in the middle of the deck facing her, a good portion of his tail still moving lazily in the water behind her.

 

Plaxum watched, with a slightly disgusted face, as the mer dropped it at her feet, bright blue eyes looking towards her for some kind of response. Gingerly she picked up the still warm body of the bird, noticing how there was no blood to be seen.

 

A nice clean kill.

 

She hugged it to her chest, smiling softly at the mer in front of her even if internally she was screaming only slightly, laughing softly to herself the next moment as she watched him seem to puff up in pride, fins flaring out in a prideful manner, a grin overtaking his face. His scales also seemed to glow brighter in the sun, like a shimmering painting of the ocean itself the longer she looked.

 

The mer’s ear-like fins suddenly stood up, head snapping towards the water as the fins moved this way and that to catch a sound that Plaxum likely couldn’t hear, the girl looking out towards where the mer was facing to see if she could spot what had caught his attention.

 

Before she could say or do anything the mer disappeared to the water with a splash, unknowingly soaking Plaxum in the process, the young woman yelling in surprise at the cold water that now soaked her through.

 

She hadn’t even gotten any photos of him.


	4. Raw Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even those deemed fearless need a reminder that those familiar can be dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough, anyways enjoy!

The next few weeks were quite eventful, more so than how Plaxum’s trips out on the water usually were. The mer would come a lot closer to the boat than before, the sound of scales brushing against the bottom of the boat was now Plaxum’s routine alarm clock for the morning and on rare occasions at night.

 

This particular day she hadn’t seen hide nor scale of her mer all morning. Which wasn’t too odd in itself since she figured he was out hunting or doing what mers do. That left her with a lot of free time to herself to read or look over her photos for the past few days.

 

It was gray and drizzling when she finally left  her cabin for the first time that day, peering out into the slight fog at the beach around her. She’d guided her boat on the beach of a one of the larger islands, setting down her anchor for the morning until the fog had cleared up enough that visibility wouldn’t be a problem.

 

If it cleared up.

 

The area she was in was known for it’s unpredictable weather, just a day ago a large storm had come through and wrecked the island, broken branches and debris scattered about along with fallen trees that lay crooked and bent in the now thinned out forest. The sand beneath her toes was cool, something that could easily have changed within a span of a few minutes if the sun was out. But as it stood the ground was cool and wet against her skin, stepping carefully over broken bits of debris and branches that had scattered through the harsh winds of last night’s storm.

 

Her eyes roamed over the large expanse of beach, seeing piles of seaweed, wood, the occasional bits of trash, nets,and  fishing lines tangled with the debris. She pressed onward, hoping to find a rare treasure or trinket to add to her collection.

 

The sound of gulls squawking loudly ahead of her drew her attention, seeing a crowd of them surrounding something. Whatever they had surrounded seemed to be half dead, from here it looked like a beached dolphin. Likely washed up on shore during last night’s storm considering they were too far up on land to get there normally if at all.

 

With a new determination to save the poor creature she hurried herself over, waving her arms and yelling to scare away the seagulls that had been pecking at the poor thing. The crowd of birds disappeared, flying out overhead to scatter among the sky, leaving just Plaxum and the half dead-

 

…Mer?

 

She took off her glasses, cleaning and readjusting them on her face, blinking quickly as she looked back at the creature.

 

That was definitely a mer.

 

She crept closer, wary of the range the mer might be able to reach her if it chose to lash out. Currently she was at it’s back and upon closer inspection it seemed it wouldn’t be able to lash out if it wanted to. It’s body was covered and wrapped in nets and various fishing lines, starting from it’s neck and ending at it’s tail to the point where it looked white from far away. Which explained why she had thought it a dolphin at first glance.

 

She made her away around the mer, wanting to see it’s front and check if it was still alive. Any movement from it had ceased when the birds flew off and she was hoping it was still alive and hadn’t been moving by the birds’ account.

 

Seeing the mer still eerily still she walked closer to it until she was arms length form it’s upper half, eyes roving over the various and multiple injuries that littered it’s skin and tail.

 

From her observation it seemed as though he’d been knocked around quite a bit, cuts and gashes littering his torso in slowly bleeding gouges that colored the sand.

 

It was a male, unconscious but breathing at least. And upon that discovery Plaxum found herself breathing easily as well, her worry for it lessening just a fraction. If he was breathing he had a chance.

 

With a new determination Plaxum sprung up and ran back towards her boat, vaulting over the side as she rushed to her room for supplies she’d need.

 

It was barely five minutes later that she had ran back to the beached mer, scaring the last few stragglers of seagulls from the creature that thought she was gone for good.

 

She carried a bucket with her, dumping it’s contents just a foot away from the creature before she got up and ran to the water, filling it up halfway before heading back. With that done and the necessary items next to her she set to work.

 

She grabbed a fishing knife from the pile of tools and objects she’d taken with her and surveyed the damage she’d need to address first. Her eyes caught onto the fishing lines that wrapped around the male’s throat, keeping his gills shut and unable to open.

 

She started there first.

 

With careful hands from years of dealing with cleaning fish and cutting line she carefully grabbed at one of the looser lines at his neck, pulling it out as far as it could go before cutting it swiftly.

 

This pattern was repeated quite a few times, Plaxum’s face in an expression of concentration as she ignored the burning sun on her back and focused solely on the mer in front of her. Her hands moved swiftly, knife blade glinting dangerously in the sun as she cut the line that wrapped around the mer’s throat. Within minutes that felt like hours to her she’d gotten that portion cut and pulled, allowing his gills to rest freely and open a bit, small streams of blood flowing down as it purged the last of the salt water from his throat, allowing more air into his lungs in the process.

 

After making sure he was breathing properly Plaxum moved on to the next round of line, the hours passing by slowly in the hot, muggy air as she continued her work, eyes glancing at the mer’s face every few moments to look for any sort of reaction from the seemingly unconscious creature.

 

She needed to be prepared to move if he woke up, like most wild creatures they wouldn't be able to recognize a human helping them right away, their first instinct would always be to lash out first and ask questions later if at all.

 

It was nearly two hours later when she had finally cut the mer free, pushing the remains of the fishing line off of dark, rough scales, and having to tug when a few of the more tangled bits caught onto the rough edges. She’d never seen a mer like this one before, rough scales as black as night that shined on his torso like oil, multiple colors shimmering dully in the light like a smudged oil painting. On most of the black scales that covered his tail and trailed up his torso they shined shades of blood red, barely visible unless it was directly in the light. Sharp, ink black claws stayed still at his sides where the lines had been previously wrapped around his torso, pinning them bent against his ribs.

 

Clearing the last few nets and lines Plaxum sat back for only a moment before she was moving again. Picking up the bucket of water she’d filled earlier she went to the front of the mer, who was still unconscious but breathing a lot better than he had been before.

 

A couple patches of dry scales were peeling and flaking off on his torso and face, having been out of the water for too long. She grabbed a rag, dusting off the sand that clung to it before plunging it in the bucket of water and soaking it through.

 

With careful hands she pressed the wet rag to the rougher spots on his torso and tail, soaking the scales through until they returned to what she assumed was their regular sheen.

 

Once she’d gotten all the spots she moved back, pouring the rest of the water left lingering in the bucket over the mer, hoping it’d help wake him up properly so he could start his way back to the water before night fell. Of course there were still a few good hours before nightfall but it never hurt to be proactive.

 

Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to stay until the mer awoke, Plaxum overturned her bucket a few yards away, sitting herself atop the bottom of the bucket with elbows on her knees and chin in her hands, content to stay and watch the mer.

 

It was gonna be a long day.

 

* * *

 

It was disorienting waking up, the darkness like a shroud over her senses as she came to. The moon was shining brightly, a wash of blue-white across the ground. The sky was as crystal clear as spring water, a notable difference from the weather earlier, revealing the plethora of stars hidden throughout the cloudy day.

 

Plaxum rubbed the sleep from her eyes, pushing her glasses up and out of the way briefly before adjusting them back over her face.

 

The sight that met her eyes when she opened them and took in her surroundings made her breath catch in her throat, heart pounding and blood rushing through her ears instantly, frozen in fear.

 

The mer from earlier was awake, very much so in fact.

 

Hard to mistake him as anything but awake when he was right in front of her, his eyes holding the reflective sheen like a cats and looking every bit as haunting and eerie as one would expect.

 

His scales barely shined in the light, blending in with the surrounding darkness and adding to the overall mystery of what exactly he was.

 

He was large, his tail just as long as her own mer’s, maybe even longer, a graceful trail of black against the blue-white wash of the sand. He trilled curiously, a harsh, grating but guttural sound that sent shivers down her spine in an unpleasant way, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

 

This was a horrible time to compare his sound to the Predator’s from the movies.

 

The eyes of the mer stood unblinking, staring into her own as he tilted his head to look at her, moving closer to peer at her.

 

Plaxum stood still as a statue, a cold sweat breaking out across her, a harsh breath or two leaving her mouth in a rush, snapping her mouth closed a moment later when the mer startled at that, ear fins flicking up from his head. The lined  edge of it shining white from the reflected moonlight.

 

Seemingly satisfied with whatever it was he’d been doing the mer finally turned away from her, the sound of sand being moved as he dragged his body towards the water was the only noise to occupy the still, night air. Even the ocean seemed to quiet, the waves that lapped at the sandy shore barely making a rush.

 

Plaxum took in a breath, lungs burning for air that she hadn’t once provided when the mer was present, afraid to set him off.

 

With a drive only fear could provide she ran on shaky legs back to her boat, not once stopping until she was safely below deck in her room, door locked and her fishing knife held close to her chest, heart hammering in her rib cage.

 

Sleep didn’t come easy that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is obviously Plaxum's first meeting with Keith. The fear she feels stems from the fact that she doesn't quite know what he is. Mers don't usually have eyes like that or move like he does.
> 
> And being face to face with him like that is like being met with a true predator, nature's killing machine.

**Author's Note:**

> I made this on a whim, enjoy


End file.
